A rogue, a King and a promise
by Cybrind
Summary: The Grey Warden Commander has come to Vigils Keep. We join her just in time to question the shadow of a man in his jail cell. one shot, cuz I can


"Why are you here?"

"To kill you."

"Oh? Who sent you?"

"No one."

"Come now, you were doing so well. I'll ask again. Who sent you?"

"I told you. Nobody sent me."

"So this is personal?"

"Yes."

"What's your name?"

"Howe, Nathaniel Howe." His baritone voice remains unfeeling, defeated and monotone.

She frowns, brows drawn in deep thought before she slowly shakes her head. "The name means nothing to me. What do you think I've done to deserve death by your hands, hmm?"

"You killed my father." Nathaniel hasn't moved since she entered the jail and began speaking to him, sitting on the concrete floor, beaten and battered.

Peering into the shadowy jail cell at the man, Nathaniel Howe, if he's to be believed, she snorts. "You'll have to be more specific. I've killed many. Mostly I kill darkspawn, but a few men along the way have asked to be killed too, hmm?"

Nathaniel moves quickly from perfectly still to leaping at the bars gripping them so tightly his knuckles are white. His movements are so smooth and sudden that the men behind her jump back in surprise. Yet she is unrattled, standing perfectly still, unperterbed and slightly amused. Finally some passion, a hint of the fighter the guards claimed him to be. Her lip quirks as he growls at her, "My father was Rendon Howe, Arl of Amaranthine! You struck him down like a common criminal."

Her chin rises an inch and her eyebrow quirks. "I have heard of this Rendon Howe. But you are wrong. I just arrived in Fereldan two months ago, docked in the bay of Denerim and traveled by horse to Vigil's Keep. What you speak of is known to the Grey Wardens. The woman you seek to kill died when she slew the archdemon, deemed the 'Hero of Ferelden'."

Tightening his grip on the bars, Nathaniel's head drops against them, his word a choked whisper. "No…"

"Oh yes, she made the ultimate sacrafice, no? Her life for your country." She scoffs at him, "You are not worthy of killing such a woman, Nathaniel Howe. You do not know the sacrifice of a Grey Warden… but you will."

She motions with her head towards the door, never taking her eyes off the man in the cell. "Go! Tell Seneschal Varel I have a new recruit."

"Y-yes, Ser!" The guard looks from Nathaniel to the woman before he runs out the door.

Nathaniel's head had snapped up to stare at her in disbelief at her words. His pale blue almost gray eyes flash with anger and his teeth clench with a snarl. "What?"

"I am Leonie Caron, Grey Warden Commander of Ferelden." Leonie sneers at him, her lip curling in disgust. "I can have you killed or conscripted. Ferelden is in need of fighters, of Grey Wardens. You will learn, you will experience first hand what it is this 'Hero' had to go through and why you are unworthy of her death at your hands. Once you learn… once you _know_ what it is to be a Grey Warden, the sacrifice, the decisions that must be made every day. Then you will understand."

Leonie's voice softens and she closes her eyes to draw a deep shuddering breath. "Only then will you understand." She allows her anger to wash over her and fall away.

He rattles the bars snarling at her like a caged animal, "I'd rather die than become a Grey Warden."

"The Joining may kill you, you may get your wish…" Leonie steps closer to him, her voice silky and accented, "but if you live, you will serve well or I will kill you myself."

"Warden Commander," Seneschal Varel bursts through the door with two guards following closely behind in his wake. His gaze falls on Nathaniel, "I hear you will be conscripting this one. I'd ask if that is a wise decision, but you're the Commander and I'm only here to aid you."

"Anders," Leonie awknowldges the mage, who is trying to stay invisible in the corner, causing him to jump at the sound of his name. "Can you do any type of binding spells?"

"Hmm, not particularly my thing, really; fire, healing, those are more my style." Anders gives a small one shoulder shrug when she huffs. "Sorry, I'm a healer. I thought we established that already."

"Shackle his hands in front of him and take him to the Keep for the Joining. I don't want this to wait." Leonie takes a step back out of the way of the cell door.

The two guards step forward eyeing Nathaniel wearily. Anders leans forward, lowering his voice as his breath brushes past her ear. "Now that could be fun, although I'm more for a looser binding and being tied to a bed-"

Leonie spins around quickly, to press a dagger to Anders' throat with her eyebrow quirked. Anders' eyes widen in surprise and he raises his chin slightly to ease the pressure. "Tell me, do you require a tongue to cast spells?"

"Yes?" Anders fights the urge to swallow and only allows himself a breath of relief when she smirks at him. "You're scary, did you know that?"

Laughing Leonie's voice fills the small room. "Yes, I've been told." She walks to the door, guards, Anders, Nathaniel and Seneschal Varel follow in a stunned silence.

The small group doesn't make it very far as noise of a procession reaches the gate. Leonie's shoulders slump momentarily with exhaustion before speaking. "Seneschal Varel, is it always this busy at the Keep?"

"Unfortunately, yes. I've only been here for the past four months and I have yet to see a respite from some form of crisis." Seneschal Varel motions towards the two guards to take hold of Nathaniel as he steps to the left of Leonie.

Anders stiffens and moves closer to Leonie, "Templars."

Leonie smirks, "I've dealt with templars before. It is the seekers you should be afraid of." Walking forward, she meets the prosession at the gate and holds up her hand, halting their advance. "Alistair! What a pleasant surprise. You and your guards are always welcome at the Keep but your templar friends will have to stay on that side of the gate."

"My, what…" With a surprised look, King Alistair looks behind him noting the templars for possibly the first time. "Oh… well, they aren't with me." He shifts on his horse and stares down at the woman leading the templars. "State your business and be on your way."

The templar woman bristles, "I am Ser Rylock and I'm here for that murderer."

All heads turn towards Anders and he looks around sheepishly, "I've been called many things but this is a first even for me."

Leonie waves him off and addresses Rylock, "You can't have him. Anders is a healer and will be joining the Grey Wardens. I need him."

Anders shrugs, "you heard the Commander," making shooing motions.

"You can't do that!" Rylock moves to grip her sword and Leonie tsks.

Pointing towards the towers flanking the gate and the guards who are currently pointing arrows at her, along with the royal guard around King Alistair with their hands on their hilts, Leonie smirks openly. "I have conscripted this mage, he is under my protection. You have no power here. I suggest you move on, back to your circle or Amaranthine, whereever it is you've come from."

"And before you say she can't do _that_… she is Leonie Caron, the Grey Warden Commander and yes, she can. Now… if you'd be so kind as to back away from the gate and more importantly away from me, I'd appreciate it. I want off this horse and into a hot bath so, scoot…" King Alistair sighs in relief once they templars depart and the gate is opened for his procession to continue. "I thought she'd never leave."

"Alistair, this is Seneschal Varel, Anders and Nathaniel Howe two new recruits." Leonie notes the tightening around King Alistair's eyes at the mention of Nathaniel's name.

Seneschal Varel bows quickly to King Alistair before summoning a stablehand over to see to the horses. "Your Majesty, how long will you and your men be staying?"

"Not long unfortunately, I need to be back in Denerim in a fortnight. Is there room for a fellow Grey Warden and his motley crew?" King Alistair's blue eyes dance with amusement.

"Of course," Leonie motions for them to enter the Keep. "Come have some supper. We have things to discuss and a Joining to conduct."

Seneschal Varel rounds up the guards and the straggling recruits leaving Leonie and King Alistair to bring up the rear. King Alistair's voice drops for her ears only. "Is he any relation to Rendon Howe?"

"He is. Nathaniel Howe came here in hopes of killing Elissa Cousland. He wanted to kill the woman who killed his father, who killed her family. It is all rather complicated." Leonie glances at King Alistair when he stiffens. "I've decided to conscript him, make him a Grey Warden in order to force him to understand what drives us to do what we do. It will never make him understand what it is his father did, but that I don't care about. She deserves to be remembered as a Grey Warden, not as a vigilante."

"I'd like to talk to him." Leonie looks at him sharply and King Alistair shakes his head. "Just talk. Please."

"Come, we'll have some food and a rest. You can talk to him before the Joining." Leading the way to the dining area and the sounds of laughter and drink the pair stand in the door way and she sighs softly. "I'm here less than twenty-four hours and I have four recruits for the Joining tonight, Mhairi and Oghren. The filthy dwarf claims he was a companion of yours during the blight. I recognize the name from the reports so I agreed to let him join."

"Ooh, cheese!" King Alistair quickly finds a place at the table and digs into the feast leaving Leonie chuckling and shaking her head.

Oghren slams his stein on the table and lets a long belch rip through the laughter. The only one at the table ignoring his antics is the one he's pointing a plump sausage finger at. "Piketwirler!"

King Alistair smirks at Oghren, pops a square bite of cheese into his mouth before responding in the sudden strained silence that fills the room. "That's _King_ Piketwirler to you, Oghren."

"Not at this table." Leonie walks around to the head of the table and takes a seat. "At _my_ table you are Senior Grey Warden Piketwirler."

Laughing, King Alistair raises his stein in a mock salute. "Here, here!"

Nathaniel watches King Alistair quietly from across the table, stewing in his anger with his hands still shackled resting on the table. Sobering quickly King Alistair's gaze meets his in a challenge. Neither man blinks, neither looks away even while King Alistair slowly drinks his ale.

Leonie leans towards Nathaniel, "You should eat, this is your last meal as a free man."

Scoffing Nathaniel raises his bound wrists, "Free? You call this free?"

"Compared to the life you will have after tonight, yes." Leonie sips her own ale and grimaces. "What is this vile drink?"

"Hey! That there is m' own personal brew." Oghren thumps his chest proudly and drains another stein.

Talk and laughter, stories and tales, jokes and antidotes can be heard until one voice, a hesitant woman, yet bold and curious asks the wrong question. Mhairi looks down the table towards King Alistair in hopes of a response, fearing what would be told. "Can you tell us what really happened, your Majesty?"

"What really happened?" King Alistair's breath hitches. He closes his eyes for a long moment and steels himself before responding. "It's a long tale that's been told many times, by those who knew her, those that loved her, those that hate her and those that have no clue."

King Alistair takes a long drink of his ale before setting it down. His gaze is once more on Nathaniel before he tears his eyes from him and looks at Mhairi. "I could start at the end and tell you she killed the archdemon but that doesn't tell you who she was. I could start at the beginning but I wasn't there and only one at this table knew her when she was young and impressionable, sweet and naïve.

"I met Elissa Cousland when she was a recruit, haunted blue eyes, disheveled brown hair and full red lips. Stories claim it was love at first sight for me, I'd say maybe third? Fourth? Only she didn't love me back." King Alistair shrugs a shoulder, "Warden Commander Duncan brought Elissa to Ostagar where she joined the Grey Wardens. I won't recount the battle as that has been relived by me more times than I care to.

"It was when we reached the outskirts of Redcliffe after Ostagar that we talked for the first time about something other than the blight. It was there that we both told our dark secrets and an understanding was achieved.

"I had told her about my father, King Maric. I told her about growing up in the chantry. All the stories about my youth are probably true. I was raised in the chantry from age ten. I was training as a templar when Duncan conscripted me.

"She told me about her family. Elissa Cousland was a nobleman's daughter; taught to shoot a bow, how to behave at court, behave as a lady and disappear into shadows like the rogue she was. She lost her family to a brutal slaughtering. No clemency was given, not even to her seven year old nephew. A family friend, Rendon Howe, betrayed the Couslands and only Elissa survived thanks to Duncan.

"Some months later I professed my love for her. She told me of her first and only love." King Alistair stares hard at the man directly in front of him. "For reasons I will never understand, she refused to think the worse of him. Always believed in his innocence. Even knowing who murdered her family never changed that. Her love was none other than Rendon Howe's eldest son, Nathaniel Howe."

Nathaniel closes his eyes for a moment and shudders while King Alistair continues. "The tales have been told about our gathering of forces and allies, traipsing across Ferelden settling uprisings and conquering tyrants. They're mostly true. We were lucky, we were bold, we were desperate and Elissa was a born leader and diplomat. Elissa's love for Ferelden and the hope that I'd make a half decent King was enough for her to sacrifice everything. In the end, she gave her life to kill the archdemon."

King Alistair stares at the dregs in his stein, "That day I lost my best friend."

The silence around the table is deafening. King Alistair sets his stein down and gets up without a word. He walks around the table grabbing Nathaniel's arm, dragging him backwards away from the table. He slams Nathaniel against a wall and lowers his voice so they won't be overheard. "If the Grey Warden Commander hadn't conscripted you, make no mistake, I'd have killed you myself."

"Then do it. Kill me." The fight in Nathaniel has gone. He leans against the wall still absorbing all that King Alistair has said.

"Elissa cried the day she killed your father. The relief and guilt tore through her, her love for her family and her love for you warring inside. I was there through it all, the killing, the fear, the confusion, the doubts. It was me on that rooftop holding her while she died. I made her a promise, that if I ever met you…" King Alistair closes his eyes and turns his head away from his gaze. "I'd ask you to forgive her."


End file.
